Final: Celtics 119, Cavs 113 - Gordon Hayward erupts for 39 points as C's hold off Cavs

Gordon Hayward finished with one point shy of a career-high with 39 points, including a pivotal putback layup in the final minute, helping to carry the visitors to their fifth straight win with a 119-113 victory over the Cavs on Tuesday night. Hayward was a model of efficiency all night long as he made all 17 of his shots from inside the arc, feasting on a host of undersized Cavs wing defenders in the paint. He also added seven rebounds and eight assists in easily his best performance as a Celtic, leading the C's to their second straight road win. 

Kemba Walker added 25 points and Jayson Tatum chipped in with 18 points for the shorthanded C's who played their third straight game without Jaylen Brown and Enes Kanter. The victory puts Boston into a four-way tie for the best record in the NBA at 5-1 with Walker's return to Charlotte looming on Thursday night.

First Half Notes

Gordon Hayward is more than halfway towards his career-high of 40 points in the first half as he opened the game a scoring hot 9-of-9 from the field with 22 points. He’s doing all of his damage from inside the arc, working his drive game to create shots for himself at the rim and the midrange.

Boston’s starting five continues to thrive together as they combined for 58 of the C’s 63 points in the first half.

Kemba Walker (12 points) and Jayson Tatum (14 points) also pitched in with efficient first halves while anchoring the bench unit at various points of the game.

Javonte Green saw his first meaningful minutes of his career off the bench with a five minute first half stint.

Brad Stevens went 11 deep in the first half as he tired to find some offense with Jaylen Brown and Kanter out. The bench combined for five points on 2-of-8 shooting.

Marcus Smart with some tremendous work guarding Kevin Love, who was limited to just five first half points.

• Jaylen Brown has been ruled out as he continues to recover from an illness. Enes Kanter is doubtful despite traveling with the team. Kanter has missed four straight games with a knee injury and is inching closer to a return. "I was planning to actually play in the Toronto game, the next game, but they just told me it’s a long season, just be 100 percent and come back," Kanter said. "It’s 82 games, then the playoffs and stuff, so they just said, ‘Take your time.’


• Rob Williams will be active after missing Friday's game with a sore hip. With Romeo Langford assigned to Maine, the C's will only have 12 active players on the roster.


• Brad Stevens is impressed with the Cavs despite their slow 2-4 start. "They're doing a lot of new stuff from the time that we played them in the preseason," he explained. "In fact, they’ve probably tweaked and changed as much as any team with regard to how they're playing. And I think a lot of that has to do with playing to the strengths of Love and Thompson, who are great. And Thompson didn’t play in either of our preseason games, and he's had a huge impact. And then those guards going downhill are all scary. The games I've watched, they've played pretty well, and certainly in a couple of their wins, I thought they dictated it the whole game. If you can't the effort and intensity of Thompson and others, that's difficult."


• A closer look at Boston's bench scoring woes